Resources Repository
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ArticlePublication 2019Countering Misinformation with Lessons from Public Health
The internet is often praised as a tool for freedom of speech, democracy, and truth. …
The internet is often praised as a tool for freedom of speech, democracy, and truth. However, the internet increasingly has become polluted by misinformation – the inadvertent spread of misleading and false information – and disinformation – the deliberate and coordinated spread of misleading and false information. Individuals online knowingly and unknowingly spread dangerous rumors and propaganda at an alarming rate, which can mislead or manipulate the worldview of those who encounter it. False information…
Social Determinants | North America | Preferences/Values | Decision Psychology | Infectious Diseases | Child/Nutrition | Culture/Society | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology | Global -
ArticlePublication 2020Conspiracy Theories as Barriers to Controlling the Spread of COVID-19 in the U.S.
This article uses national probability survey data of U.S. adults to assess the relationship between …
This article uses national probability survey data of U.S. adults to assess the relationship between belief in three COVID-19-related conspiracy theories to adoption of preventive measures recommended by public health authorities, vaccination intentions, conspiracy beliefs, perceptions of threat, belief about the safety of vaccines, political ideology, and media exposure patterns. Authors found that conspiracy theory beliefs were highly stable across two periods of the survey and inversely related to the (1) perceived threat of the…
Social Determinants | North America | Preferences/Values | Decision Psychology | Infectious Diseases | Culture/Society | Government/Law | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology -
ArticlePublication 2020New Fronts in the War on Misinformation
The countless false claims that have spread alongside the novel coronavirus – inaccurate advice about …
The countless false claims that have spread alongside the novel coronavirus – inaccurate advice about how to prevent the virus, for example, and conspiracy theories about its origins – are just the latest manifestation of an ongoing problem: the online proliferation of misinformation about science and health. The National Academies hosted and helped organize three events focused on countering misinformation: The MisinfoCon conference, a Wikipedia Edit-a-thon, and a meeting to explore ways to expand successful…
Social Determinants | North America | Preferences/Values | Decision Psychology | Infectious Diseases | Policy/Regulation | Culture/Society | Education/Labor | Government/Law | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology -
ReviewPublication 2016Strengthening Cost-Effectiveness Analysis for Public Health Policy
Many important opportunities to improve health lie outside the health sector and involve improving the …
Many important opportunities to improve health lie outside the health sector and involve improving the conditions in which we live and work: safe design and maintenance of roads, bridges, train tracks, and airports; control of environmental pollutants; occupational safety; healthy buildings; a safe and healthy food supply; safe manufacture of consumer products; a healthy social environment; and others. Faced with the overwhelming array of possibilities, U.S. decision makers need help identifying those that can contribute the…
Social Determinants | North America | Priority Setting/Ethics | Preferences/Values | Costing Methods | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Environmental Health | Health Systems | Policy/Regulation | Climate/Environment | Economics/Finance | Food/Agriculture | Health/Medicine -
Working PaperPublication 2015Benefit-Cost Analysis and the Cities
This paper provides a short introduction to the use of benefit-cost analysis to assess interventions …
This paper provides a short introduction to the use of benefit-cost analysis to assess interventions undertaken at the city or municipal level. It introduces the concepts that underlie the conduct of benefit-cost analysis, describes the major analytic components, and discusses how to tailor the analysis to the characteristics of the policy and the resources available. It concludes with a list of references for those interested in learning more.
Social Determinants | North America | Priority Setting/Ethics | Preferences/Values | Decision Analysis | Benefit-Cost Analysis | Environmental Health | Policy/Regulation | Climate/Environment | Culture/Society | Economics/Finance | Government/Law | Critical Thinking/Analysis -
ArticlePublication 2019Projected U.S. State-Level Prevalence of Adult Obesity and Severe Obesity
This analysis estimates state-specific and demographic subgroup-specific trends and projections of the prevalence of categories …
This analysis estimates state-specific and demographic subgroup-specific trends and projections of the prevalence of categories of body-mass index (BMI) in the United States. Self-reported BMI from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Survey (1993-1994 and 1999-2016) were obtained and corrected for quantile-specific self-reporting bias. Multinomial regressions were then fitted for each state and subgroup to estimate the prevalence of four BMI categories from 1990 through 2030: underweight or normal weight (BMI <25), overweight (25 to…
Calibration/Validation | Social Determinants | North America | Health Outcomes | Mathematical Models | Chronic Disease/Risk -
ArticlePublication 2022Excess Mortality and Elevated Body Weight in the U.S.
This analysis estimates excess mortality associated with elevated body weight in the United States by …
This analysis estimates excess mortality associated with elevated body weight in the United States by state and demographic subgroup. The authors developed a nationally-representative microsimulation (individual-level) model of US adults between 1999 and 2016, based on risk factor data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and body-mass index (BMI) mortality hazard ratios from a global pooling dataset. The model was calibrated to empirical all-cause mortality rates from CDC WONDER by state and subgroup, and…
Calibration/Validation | Social Determinants | North America | Health Outcomes | Microsimulation | Chronic Disease/Risk -
ReportPublication 2021What the American Public Thinks About Vaccines and How Framing Can Help
This paper explores the question of public understandings, beliefs, and attitudes about vaccination in general, …
This paper explores the question of public understandings, beliefs, and attitudes about vaccination in general, and childhood vaccination more specifically. The authors provide an overview of the existing literature on public thinking about vaccination and on effective communication strategies and interventions that have been either suggested or empirically tested. This description was extracted from the publication abstract.
Social Determinants | North America | Preferences/Values | Infectious Diseases | Child/Nutrition | Culture/Society | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology -
NewsPublication 2020Online Anti-Vaccine Movement in the Age of COVID-19
This article discusses a recent report by the Centre for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) that …
This article discusses a recent report by the Centre for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) that lambasted social media companies for allowing the anti-vaccine movement to remain on their platforms. The CCDH report noted that social media accounts held by so-called anti-vaxxers have increased their following by at least 7-8 million people since 2019. “The decision to continue hosting known misinformation content and actors left online anti-vaxxers ready to pounce on the opportunity presented by coronavirus,”…
Social Determinants | North America | Preferences/Values | Infectious Diseases | Culture/Society | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology